58% more vehicles after BRTS in Ahmeadbad

Commuters may blame the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for occupying a large portion of the road causing traffic congestion. But the larger question is – is BRTS solving the traffic issues of the city, prime among which is rise in number of vehicles on the road?

Has BRTS achieved its intention of attracting people to board a bus thereby reducing vehicular traffic on the road? Interestingly, since the launch of BRTS in 2009 the city has witnessed 58% rise in number of vehicles on the road.

The question which arises is whether the BRTS deserves applause for this or if the figure is too high and a failure of the transport system.

Before the launch of BRTS the rise in number of vehicles annually was 20-25%. The number of new vehicles added to city roads which was 1,33,820 in 2009-10 rose to 1,75,941 in 2010-11, indicating a rise of 31.48%.

However, in 2011-12, the new vehicles added were just 2.06 lakh, which means a rise by just 17.08%. Is this fall due to the BRTS? In the months April to September 2012 the rise in number of vehicles was around 72,000 making the total rise 58% for the post-launch period.

Terming it difficult to confirm, director of Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) Prof Shivanand Swamy said, “It is very difficult to say if reduction in rate of vehicle purchase is due to BRTS. It’s very premature to conclude this as the network is still expanding.”

He added that the sudden rise in vehicles in 2009-10 can also be attributed to rising purchasing power of people and economy. “Similarly, for the slower addition of vehicles, there may be number of factors responsible, out of which BRTS may be one.”

Echoing a similar opinion, director of research and practice, Embarq, Columbia, Dario Hidalgo, during the three-day Asia BRTS conference, said that the private vehicles in the city will keep on increasing with the rise of population.

“However, attracting the commuters from local public transport to BRTS is more important, which BRTS of Ahmedabad is becoming successful in.” Hidalgo and his team are involved in sustainable tra nsport and urban development projects in India.

Urban planner Yatin Pandya said, “I don’t think that the increasing or decreasing rate of rise in number of vehicles is due to BRTS. It is too premature to say so as the network is not widespread. BRTS is not a complete system yet.

Though people use the system, the point is BRTS is still not fully connected to the city roads.”The belief that BRTS is the changing the face of the city is quite dicey, he said. “No matter how you connect and plan the routes, the network and connectivity will still be an issue.

Many years ago, AMTS used to have excellent network with proper timings and the buses were punctual. Also, the services were good and people used to use AMTS often.” He also said that due to BRTS corridors, other vehicles on the road get less space to move which ultimately affects the city’s traffic.